Fall Arts Preview: Funding

You gotta have arts (funding): More mouths and a shrinking pie makes things tough for non-profits

By Francis Ma

You gotta have arts (funding): More mouths and a shrinking pie makes things tough for non-profits

The state agency that distributes funds to local non-profit arts organizations and artists received a budget increase to $12.3 million for the current fiscal year. And another $5 million was added to a fund dedicated to repairing and expanding cultural organizations.

But that’s still about $7 million short of the state’s pre-9/11 level of funding. Add in the fact that private donations are down and there’s been a sharp increase in the number of Boston area non-profit arts organizations and individuals seeking funding, and you have a perfect storm of factors that have made this a treacherous economic time for the arts.

And don’t kid yourself — cuts this deep affect the quality and quantity of shows.

Budget difficulties at the Citi Performing Arts Center, formerly the Wang Center, forced the Commonwealth Shakespeare Company to drastically reduce its season of free Shakespeare on the Boston Common from 20 performances in 2006 to just seven this summer. And any patron who saw the two shows immediately recognized the impact of a reduced budget. The set for the 2006 production of “Taming of the Shrew” featured a lavish recreation of a North End restaurant, while the 2007 production of “Midsummer Night’s Dream” was played on a sparse, Astro-turf patch of green.

And, for the first time in six years, the Celebrity Series, which recently lost its title sponsor, has to present a season with no international ballet production.

With the loss of Bank of America sponsorship, which left after three-and-a-half years with the Celebrity Series (Jones says that’s a long time for a bank) and a budget that still hasn’t regained its 2002 MCC allocation of $90,000, it was only a matter of time before shows were cut.

But Jones, who is entering her 12th season as executive director, is confident another show will emerge as the Series’ “leader.” (It may be the Berlin Philharmonic that plays on Nov. 19 at Symphony Hall and hasn’t been back to the Celebrity Series since 2001). And, truth be told, the ballet has always been a loss-leader for the Celebrity Series.

During the 2002 fiscal year, the Massachusetts Cultural Council, the agency that receives and distributes arts funds, had a budget of $19.1 million. The following year the budget was decimated, leaving only about $7 million to be split up among the various arts organizations, local culture councils, education programs and artists. The drop (some have speculated it was because of 9/11) was especially tough on smaller organizations that depended on the MCC for operational expenses.

Despite gradual increases from fiscal year 2002, the needs of non-profit arts organizations have only grown.

“We have a creative economy here in Massachusetts and we’re looking for new ways to build prosperity,” says MCC Executive Director Anita Walker. “We have to attract and keep those talented and creative people in the state.”

Walker explains that there are three areas that need more funding: local cultural councils, grants for individual artists and operational support.

Last year, the MCC gave $2.6 million to the 329 local cultural councils in the state, all of which provide grants or programming. According to Walker, the need of the councils is three times the amount of those funds.

It’s just as bad for artist grants. When Walker started her position this past May, she was given two stacks of letters to sign on her desk. One was for accepted grants for artists and the other were rejections. Thirty-three artists were given grants of $7,500 while a staggering 1,100 were rejected.

“And these weren’t bad artists that were rejected,” replied Walker. “These were quality applications. We didn’t have the funding to do it.”

Prior to last year, there was absolutely no funding for operational support (helping art organizations with bills, repairs, expansions). That changed when the Massachusetts Cultural Facilities Fund was created in 2006.

Last year, $13 million was put into the fund and this past July the state legislature added another $5 million.

“This is new money,” says Walker. “People have been holding things together with duct tape for too long. We have an amazing collection of not just wonderful cultural attractions, but truly natural treasures, and to be good stewards, we need to take care of them.”

Unfortunately, the combined $18 million from the fund won’t nearly address the already $80 million in requests from organizations.

And when there isn’t enough money coming in from the state legislature, foundations or corporations, the arts organizations are forced to look elsewhere for funding.

“The burden falls on the individual supporter,” says StageSource Executive Director Jeff Poulos. “In addition, when things get tight, the first thing to go is marketing, so these companies have to do more with less.”

Poulos has been with StageSource, an organization that strives to unite the arts community, for seven years and says funding and support have been declining in recent years, especially from corporations.

“There are fewer corporations giving out support to non-profits in the arts and fewer foundations giving operational support,” explains Poulos. “Things have become more program-based. They aren’t willing to fund the telephone bill or the rent because it’s not sexy enough.”

Poulos says the situation isn’t dire, but the field has gotten competitive with more arts organizations vying for the limited state budget.

“You can’t have a vibrant city where people want to live and work and go to school without cultural institutions,” says Poulos.

Jones at the Celebrity Series agrees.

“As a presenter, you have an obligation to bring world culture to the community,” says Jones. “How can you grow up not having seen ‘Swan Lake’ or hearing Tchaikovsky’s score? To be 50 years old and not know that score is shameful.”

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